The present invention relates generally to the field of systems for monitoring and protection of mechanical systems. More particularly, the invention relates to a technique for automatically programming or reprogramming multiple user defined configuration parameters in monitoring modules employed in such systems.
In the field of industrial equipment monitoring and protection, a wide range of components and systems are known and presently in use. Depending upon the nature of the underlying mechanical system, the monitoring and protection components may generate various signals representative of dynamic conditions. The signal-generating components are typically sensors and transducers positioned on or otherwise closely associated with points of interest of the machine systems. The signals are applied to monitoring circuits, typically somewhat remote from the points of interest, and are used to analyze the performance of the machine system. Machine systems thus instrumented may include rotary machines, assembly lines, production equipment, material, handling equipment, power generation equipment, as well as many other types of machines of varying complexity.
A variety of unwanted conditions may develop in machine systems that can occur rapidly, or develop over time or in certain situations, such as loading or due to wear or system degradation. Where unwanted conditions appear, various types of response may be warranted. For example, the response of the monitoring and protection components to different dynamic conditions may differ greatly depending upon the machine system itself, its typical operating characteristics, the nature of the system, and the relative importance of the conditions that may develop. Such responses may range from taking no action, to reporting, to logging, to providing alerts, and to energizing or de-energizing parts or all of the machine system.
By way of example, one type of condition that may be monitored in rotary and other dynamic machine systems is vibration. Information indicative of vibration may be collected by accelerometers on or adjacent to points of interest of a machine, and conveyed to monitoring or control equipment. The information from the accelerometers is not typically useful in its raw form, and must be processed, analyzed, and considered in conjunction with other factors, such as operating speeds, to determine the appropriate response to existing or developing conditions.
The operation of such monitoring components is typically programmed prior to or at the time the components are placed in service. In the event of failure or servicing of a component, the new or serviced component must generally be reprogrammed, at considerable time and expense. Such reprogramming may also lead to downtime for the component or for a portion or all of the machine system itself, entailing additional expense. Moreover, where a significant number of values and settings are programmable in a monitoring component, these may need to be entirely regenerated, or records located indicating the programmed settings must be found before reprogramming the new or serviced component.
There is a need for a more reliable and straightforward approach to reprogramming components of distributed monitoring and protection systems. Moreover, there is a need for systems that can accommodate replacement of individual components having a large number of user-configured settings in a relatively short time and with minimal disruption to other parts of the system.
The present invention provides a system design and programming technique that responds to such needs. The technique may be used in a wide range of settings, but is particularly well suited to industrial monitoring equipment in which individual monitoring modules are positioned in proximity to points of interest in complex machine systems. The monitoring modules may be of any suitable type, although in a present implementation at least some of the modules allow for control or protection functions, such as the control of the operative state of a relay circuit that may be integrated directly into the modules. The control and protection functions are at least partially defined by the configuration settings programmed into the individual modules.
The technique allows for multiple diverse settings or configuration parameters to be set in the individual modules by a user. Thus, the overall system and the individual components may be adapted to the specific application. The configuration parameters may define such settings as alarm limits, system settings, units of measurement, normal and abnormal operating levels, and so forth. The configuration parameters are stored both in the monitoring modules and in a master module for each group of modules. The monitoring modules and the master, which may be another monitoring module or a different type of device such as a gateway, may communicate with one another via an open industrial data exchange protocol. Upon loss of service of or signals from a monitoring module, and return to service of a different or the same module, the master module automatically restores the configuration settings to the module to permit continuity of functionality without the need to manually reprogram the monitoring module.